ja Page 302 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

The Ja Morant Show Is Over—For Now
Ja Morant had an absurd season. He averaged around 24 points, 6 boards and 10 assists a game. ...

Nathan Chen Repeats As World Champion
After cruising to his first world championship gold last year, American wonderteen Nathan Chen (who is also a pre-med student at Yale, no big deal), managed to top an incredible free skate by Japan’s two-time Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu to win back-to-back world titles. ...

James Harden Cooks His Spiciest Meatball Yet
At this point in James Harden’s absurd season, a 27-point first quarter is not all that shocking on its own. The dude has already logged 57 or more points five times in 2019, and the Rockets’ offense is weirdly at its most effective when Harden gets to step back across the three-point line to his he...

The Blue Jackets Should Either Relax Or Panic<em></em>
This is a now-or-never final stretch for Artemi Panarin’s Columbus Blue Jackets, with at least a few of their key players on the way out after this season, and right now the team is seated on the “never” side of affairs. The Blue Jackets lost to the lowly Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night, which, co...

Just Like You, Cam Newton Is Not Having Sex
According to multiple reports from NFL insiders and Deadspin.com, neither you nor Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton are having sex in the month of March. Sources indicate that the news regarding Newton comes as a surprise to those around the league, but about you, not so much....

Ja Morant Is For Real
When a great player’s hype is dependent on masochists who regularly subject themselves to Ohio Valley Conference basketball, it’s not often that they actually shine on the national stage that March Madness provides. But Ja Morant showed up against fifth-seeded Marquette ready to make a splash with v...

How The Crooks, The Cons, And The Legends Built America's Largest Stadium For The Beating Of The Century
Toledo was a place where you could fight a man for money....

50 Years Ago, The <i>Washington Post</i> Started One Of The Biggest Controversies In D.C. Basketball History
The Washington Post released its final rankings for the 2018-2019 high school basketball season earlier this week. DeMatha, a school with perhaps the most storied program in the country, ended up in the top spot in the historically hoops-crazy D.C. region for what was officially the 28th time....

Ichiro Forever
The news circulated through the Tokyo Dome soon after first pitch. As reported by Kyodo News, Ichiro Suzuki had told the Mariners he would retire after the game. A real retirement this time; not the stepping-away of last May, when it became clear that the aged Japanese superstar didn’t have major-le...

America Vs. Adam Levine's Nipples: All The FCC Viewer Complaints About The Super Bowl Halftime Show
I’ve been FOIAing viewer complaints to the Federal Communications Commission about the Super Bowl every year since M.I.A. flipped off the world in 2012, and this edition was bountiful indeed, drawing the most complaints since that first year. The FCC received 94 complaints regarding last month’s CBS...

<i>LA Times</i> Columnist Throws Temper Tantrum When Confronted With Undisclosed Conflict Of Interest
Last night, after a big herb named Kevin Draper pointed out that a Los Angeles Times report about USC’s role in the college admissions cheating scandal was written by a USC professor and included no disclosure of this brazen conflict, the writer of the piece, former ESPN writer and current Los Angel...

An Important Lesson From This Hideous Lakers Season: Shit Happens
The Lakers have lost eight of their last nine games to fall to 11th in the Western Conference, and eight games below .500. The organization appears to be in a state of ugly collapse, helped along by the distracting, doomed courtship of Anthony Davis. Luke Walton is rumored to be on his way out. LeBr...

Murray State Vs. Marquette Should Be Sick As Hell
Thank goodness Murray State made it into the NCAA Tournament, because before last Saturday it seemed worryingly possible that Ja Morant and his Racers might be hanging out in the NIT this postseason. But after finishing as OVC regular-season co-champions with Belmont and then winning their conferenc...

LeBron James Suffers Latest Humiliation At The Hands Of Mario Hezonja
It was all set up for LeBron James, nearing the end of a crappy first season with the Los Angeles Lakers, to have another one of his moments. He loves to craft highlights on the Knicks’ home floor, and to talk afterwards about how much “the Mecca” means to him as—as a student of basketball history o...

Let's Check In To See How Some MLB Teams Are Treating Their Minor-League Players
A report from Emily Waldon and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic states that the Toronto Blue Jays have taken the novel approach of paying some of their employees fairer wages. Players in all eight of the team’s minor-league affiliates will receive a pay increase worth anywhere from 40 to 56 percent, as...
![Bradley University Reduced A Beat Writer's Access To The Men's Basketball Team Because He Didn't Promote The School's "Brand" Enough [Update]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/jmw9bcna2pvi9cizrwro.jpg)
Bradley University Reduced A Beat Writer's Access To The Men's Basketball Team Because He Didn't Promote The School's "Brand" Enough [Update]
The Bradley University men’s basketball team is heading back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 13 years after winning the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament on Sunday against Northern Iowa. The automatic bid should have made the Braves a mid-major sweetheart, but some recent actions mi...

Longtime <i>Thrasher</i> Editor And Skateboarding Icon Jake Phelps Dies At 56
Jake Phelps, the patron saint of San Francisco skateboarding and veteran editor of Thrasher, is dead. He was 56 years old. The magazine announced his death in a post Thursday night, although it didn’t specify the cause....

Utah Jazz Permanently Ban Another Fan, Who Called Russell Westbrook "Boy" In 2018 Playoffs
The Jazz are cracking down on their vilest hecklers after Monday night’s provocation, which got a rise out of a visiting Russell Westbrook and resulted in Utah fan Shane Keisel getting a permanent ban. Team owner Gail Miller addressed fans directly before Thursday’s home game, and today the Deseret...

DeSean Jackson Wore His Newest Shirt To Announce His Return To The Eagles
This week, DeSean Jackson was traded from the Buccaneers back to the Eagles, where he spent his first six seasons in the NFL. To commemorate his new three-year, $30 million extension, he wore a very, very new shirt....

Utah Jazz Owner Wants Her Team's Fans To Quit Being Huge Flaming Assholes All The Time
The dickweed Jazz fan who heckled Russell Westbrook until Westbrook threatened to kick both his ass and the ass of his wife has been permanently banned from Utah’s home arena. That’s fair and appropriate, but a lingering consequence of Monday’s exchange is an ongoing public discussion about the very...